"Does he expect me to send you away?" he asked.
"That"s a cert!" Miss Montressor affirmed. "The old woman"s been playing the respectable all day, turning up the whites of her eyes at me because I did a high kick in the hall, and groaning at Flossie because she had a few brandies; ain"t that so, Flossie?"
The young lady with yellow hair confirmed the statement with much dignity.
"I had a toothache," she said, "and Mrs. Da Souza, or whatever the old cat calls herself, was most rude. I reckon myself as respectable as she is any day, dragging that yellow-faced daughter of hers about with her and throwing her at men"s heads."
Miss Montressor, who had stopped to pick a flower, rejoined them.
"I say, General," she remarked, "fair"s fair, and a promise is a promise. We didn"t come down here to be made fools of by a fat old Jewess. You won"t send us away because of the old wretch?"
"I promise," said Trent, "that when she goes you go, and not before. Is that sufficient?"
"Right oh!" the young lady declared cheerfully. "Now you go and prink up for dinner. We"re ready, Flossie and I. The little Jew girl"s got a new dress--black covered with sequins. It makes her look yellower than ever.
There goes the bell, and we"re both as hungry as hunters. Look sharp!"
Trent entered the house. Da Souza met him in the hall, sleek, curly, and resplendent in a black dinner-suit. The years had dealt lightly with him, or else the climate of England was kinder to his yellow skin than the moist heat of the Gold Coast. He greeted Trent with a heartiness which was partly tentative, partly boisterous.
"Back from the coining of the shekels, my dear friend," he exclaimed.
"Back from the spoiling of the Egyptians, eh? How was money to-day?"
"An eighth easier," Trent answered, ascending the stairs.
Da Souza fidgeted about with the banisters, and finally followed him.
"There was just a word," he remarked, "a little word I wanted with you."
"Come and talk while I wash," Trent said shortly. "Dinner"s on, and I"m hungry."
"Certainly, certainly," Da Souza murmured, closing the door behind them as they entered the lavatory. "It is concerning these young ladies."
"What! Miss Montressor and her friend?" Trent remarked thrusting his head into the cold water. "Phew!"
"Exactly! Two very charming young ladies, my dear friend, very charming indeed, but a little--don"t you fancy just a little fast!"
"Hadn"t noticed it," Trent answered, drying himself. "What about it?"
Da Souza tugged at his little black imperial, and moved uneasily about.
"We--er--men of the world, my dear Trent, we need not be so particular, eh?--but the ladies--the ladies are so observant."
"What ladies?" Trent asked coolly.
"It is my wife who has been talking to me," Da Souza continued. "You see, Julie is so young--our dear daughter she is but a child; and, as my wife says, we cannot be too particular, too careful, eh; you understand!"
"You want them to go? Is that it?"
Da Souza spread out his hands--an old trick, only now the palms were white and the diamonds real.
"For myself," he declared, "I find them charming. It is my wife who says to me, "Hiram, those young persons, they are not fit company for our dear, innocent Julie! You shall speak to Mr. Trent. He will understand!"
Eh?"
Trent had finished his toilet and stood, the hairbrushes still in his hands, looking at Da Souza"s anxious face with a queer smile upon his lips.
"Yes, I understand, Da Souza," he said. "No doubt you are right, you cannot be too careful. You do well to be particular."
Da Souza winced. He was about to speak, but Trent interrupted him.
"Well, I"ll tell you this, and you can let the missis know, my fond father. They leave to-morrow. Is that good enough?"
Da Souza caught at his host"s hand, but Trent s.n.a.t.c.hed it away.
"My dear--my n.o.ble--"
"Here, shut up and don"t paw me," Trent interrupted. "Mind, not a word of this to any one but your wife; the girls don"t know they"re going themselves yet."
They entered the dining-room, where every one else was already a.s.sembled. Mrs. Da Souza, a Jewess portly and typical, resplendent in black satin and many gold chains and bangles, occupied the seat of honour, and by her side was a little brown girl, with dark, timid eyes and dusky complexion, pitiably over-dressed but with a certain elf-like beauty, which it was hard to believe that she could ever have inherited.
Miss Montressor and her friend sat on either side of their host--an arrangement which Mrs. Da Souza lamented, but found herself powerless to prevent, and her husband took the vacant place. Dinner was served, and with the opening of the champagne, which was not long delayed, tongues were loosened.
"It was very hot in the City to-day," Mrs. Da Souza remarked to her host. "Dear Julie was saying what a shame it seemed that you should be there and we should be enjoying your beautiful gardens. She is so thoughtful, so sympathetic! Dear girl!"
"Very kind of your daughter," Trent answered, looking directly at her and rather inclined to pity her obvious shyness. "Come, drink up, Da Souza, drink up, girls! I"ve had a hard day and I want to forget for a bit that there"s any such thing as work."
Miss Montressor raised her gla.s.s and winked at her host.
"It don"t take much drinking, this, General," she remarked, cheerily draining her gla.s.s! "Different to the "pop" they give us down at the "Star," eh, Flossie? Good old gooseberry I call that!"
"Da Souza, look after Miss Flossie," Trent said. "Why don"t you fill her gla.s.s? That"s right!"
"Hiram!"
Da Souza removed his hand from the back of his neighbour"s chair and endeavoured to look unconscious. The girl t.i.ttered--Mrs. Da Souza was severely dignified. Trent watched them all, half in amus.e.m.e.nt, half in disgust. What a pandemonium! It was time indeed for him to get rid of them all. From where he sat he could see across the lawn into the little pine plantation. It was still light-if she could look in at the open window what would she think? His cheeks burned, and he thrust the hand which was seeking his under the table savagely away. And then an idea flashed in upon him--a magnificent, irresistible idea. He drank off a gla.s.s of champagne and laughed loud and long at one of his neighbour"s silly sayings. It was a glorious joke! The more he thought of it, the more he liked it. He called for more champagne, and all, save the little brown girl, greeted the magnum which presently appeared with cheers.
Even Mrs. Da Souza unbent a little towards the young women against whom she had declared war. Faces were flushed and voices grew a little thick.
Da Souza"s arm unchidden sought once more the back of his neighbour"s chair, Miss Montressor"s eyes did their utmost to win a tender glance from their lavish host. Suddenly Trent rose to his feet. He held a gla.s.s high over his head. His face was curiously unmoved, but his lips were parted in an enigmatic smile.
"A toast, my friends!" he cried. "Fill up, the lot of you! Come! To our next meeting! May fortune soon smile again, and may I have another home before long as worthy a resting-place for you as this!"
Bewilderment reigned. No one offered to drink the toast. It was Miss Montressor who asked the question which was on every one"s lips.
"What"s up?" she exclaimed. "What"s the matter with our next meeting here to-morrow night, and what"s all that rot about your next home and fortune?"
Trent looked at them all in well-simulated amazement.
"Lord!" he exclaimed, "you don"t know--none of you! I thought Da Souza would have told you the news!"
"What news?" Da Souza cried, his beady eyes protuberant, and his gla.s.s arrested half-way to his mouth.
"What are you talking about, my friend?"